Urinary Catheters (General Overview, Different Types, Indication, and Troubleshooting Common Catheters Problem in the Ward)

Urethral catheters have been used to drain the bladder for 3500 years. Treatment of acute urine retention was known and recorded in ancient Egyptian papyrus since 1500 BC as they used transurethral bronze tubes, reeds, straws, and curled-up palm leaves. The word Catheter is inspired by the ancient Greek term "katheter" which means "to thrust into or to send down". The style of the urethral catheter developed over time and the current familiar balloon-based-self retaining catheter was designed by Dr Frederic Foley in 1929. Before that time, catheters were only used to treat acute urinary retention but now Catheters are used for a number of indications which will be explored in more depth later in this article.